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Resistance Exercise Training in Middle-aged Women Targeting Blood Pressure and Vascular Health

Award Number: R01MD021869
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CENTER ON MINORITY HEALTH AND HEALTH DISPARITIES
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/07/2026
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 05/31/2031

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Resistance Exercise Training in Middle-aged Women Targeting Blood Pressure and Vascular Health - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Hypertension rates increase dramatically in women during midlife, such that ~75% of women >60 have hypertension (HTN). Midlife and corresponding arrival of menopause may expose women to a “double hit” whereby (i) increases in blood pressure (BP) and (ii) compromised vascular health (impaired vascular reactivity, increased vascular stiffness) drastically accelerate HTN development and their risk of later-life CVD and cerebrovascular disease compared to men. There is an urgent need for non-pharmacological interventions to improve midlife BP and vascular health in women since (i) HTN is harder to pharmaceutically control in women than men during midlife, and (ii) traditional behavioral interventions (aerobic exercise) fall short of effectively improving vascular health in women following menopause. Our data suggest resistance exercise training may be an underutilized but critical intervention to improve BP trajectories and vascular health in at-risk women during midlife potentially regardless of menopause onset, thereby filling a critical unmet need by current strategies to reduce CVD and cerebrovascular disease risk in women. The central objective of this proposal is to conduct a multi-site clinical trial to investigate the impact of 16 wk supervised resistance exercise training (RET) compared to a no-exercise control (CON) on ambulatory blood pressure and vascular health in 200 representative sample of middle-aged women (40-64 years) with elevated BP or stage-1 HTN. Primary and secondary endpoints will include 24-hour ambulatory BP and nocturnal dipping patterns, as well as measures of vascular reactivity and stiffness. Lastly, the study aims to evaluate the efficacy of RET in improving 24-hour BP and vascular health, and whether menopausal status moderates these effects. This project integrates gold-standard clinical measures of BP and disease risk (ambulatory blood pressure) with novel measures of BP (overnight blood pressure dipping patterns) and vascular health (vascular reactivity and stiffness across parts of the vascular tree mechanistically linked to cardio- and cerebro-vascular disease risk). Understanding whether RET is an effective intervention to target BP and vascular health during midlife in women is critical to improve our ability to prevent HTN and concomitant cardio- and cerebro-vascular disease in women that remains inadequately ameliorated by common pharmaceutical and lifestyle interventions.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2027 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2027	2026	UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK	3112 LEE BUILDING	COLLEGE PARK	MD	20742	PRINCE GEORGES	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	000	1	10/20/2026	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $769,639 )
2026	2026	UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK	3112 LEE BUILDING	COLLEGE PARK	MD	20742	PRINCE GEORGES	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	000	1	9/9/2026	NEW	$769,639
														Subtotal = $769,639

Grand Total All Awards = $769,639

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Resistance Exercise Training in Middle-aged Women Targeting Blood Pressure and Vascular Health

Award Number: R01MD021869

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CENTER ON MINORITY HEALTH AND HEALTH DISPARITIES

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/07/2026

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 05/31/2031

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